Weekly Anchor Scripture: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” – Matthew 11: 12
Tuesday 22nd September 2020
Focus Scripture: “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth . . . .” – Ephesians 6: 14
Admonition
I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
For the umpteenth time, Christian means Christ-like. That is, one which is just like Christ Himself in all attributes. On a number of occasions on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG, the Holy Spirit had unmistakably spoken about the importance of THE TRUTH in our quest to FINISH STRONG and return Home safely.
Truth again has been identified as an irreplaceable armour of God which we are to put on to be able to withstand the wiles (deceits and assaults) of the devil. The book of Isaiah 11: 5 noted thus of the Christ: “And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” This being so while He was on earth, we, His followers, therefore must make it a point of duty to do the same. We would notice that TRUTH was first mentioned amongst all the pieces armour of God. Yes, but why? Truth again is mentioned as to be placed on our loins. Why? Well, it happens that like our conventional belt which holds other pieces of clothing together, the truth holds the other pieces of the armour together to ensure that none fell off in the midst of the battle. That is the reason it was to be placed at the loins; the loins being the middle of the body.
The popular Psalm 51 says, in part, of God, in verse 6 that “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: . . . .” This is to say that the kind of truth God desires is one that is devoid of any kind of hypocrisy. It is not an outward thing alone; but one that flows right from inward to the outward and shows in everything we think, say and do. It is not a Sunday-Sunday truth as many of us are known to have perfected in doing. The inward truth desired by God to gird our loins is neither a church truth which we normally drop at the church gate as soon as the services are over nor a “worship” truth often displayed when worship songs are sung in the church during which everybody suddenly becomes holy and untainted. This truth that holds the other pieces of the armour means the undying faithfulness of our souls and the unflinching commitments of our hearts toward our God and His Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
As we close this morning, John 8: 32 posits that the truth shall set us free. The truth is able to do this because as said earlier, it holds every other vital piece of armour in place. Without the truth in place, therefore, a Christian is fully exposed to the wiles of the devil. This calls for our total commitment to our profession as Christians and the calling to which we are called as children of the living God. We cannot afford to dilly-dally any longer, brethren, because the time is short. There is the need to make up our minds, whether to FINISH STRONG in and with Him or not. That is why we must understand that the loin we are to gird with truth is the loin of our minds (1 Peter 1: 13). And as Joshua said to the Israelites in those days, I say unto you brethren this morning: “choose you this day whom ye will serve; . . . .” (Joshua 24: 15)
Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him!
Jesus loves you!